Topic Guide to Sugarcane Industry

The information and links below include search tips and a selection of articles covering this topic in the digitized Louisiana newspapers. The dates and suggested search terms can help to further explore this topic on Chronicling America. For the most search results, try the search terms in different combinations, in proximity, and as phrases.

Significant Dates

1834 - Norbert Rillieux, a free man of color from New Orleans, invents first triple-effect evaporator, which significantly reduces fuel consumption in manufacture of sugarcane
1860 - Sugarcane is a major industry in Louisiana, bolstered by an enslaved labor force of 300,000
1861-1865 - Louisiana sugar production plummets during US Civil War
1864 - There are only 175 sugar plantations, reduced from the 1,200 sugar plantations in existence in 1861
1877 - Louisiana Sugar Planters' Association (LSPA) is founded for the purposes of research and technological innovation
1880s & 1990s - Louisiana sugarcane industry faces increasing competition from Cuba, Hawaii and Philippines; Plantation culture declines as sugarcane cultivation and processing become separate enterprises
1885 - Sugar Experiment Station at Kenner is founded by LSPA with William Carter Stubbs as director
1890 - Sugar Experiment Station moves to Audobon Park
1891 - Audubon Sugar School is founded at the Sugar Experiment Station offering two-year curriculum in chemistry, agriculture, and mechanical engineering
1896 - Audubon Sugar School Closes due to financial difficulties
1897 - Audubon Sugar School is incorporated into a degree program at Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
1900s - Louisiana sugar production suffers due to sugarcane mosaic virus, which is not fully remedied until the late 1920s
1922 - The Louisiana Sugar Planters’ Association merges with the American Cane Growers’ Association and the Producers’ and Manufacturers’ Protective Association

Suggested Search Terms

sugar cane, cane, sugar experiment station, W.C. Stubbs, sugar mills, sugar refinery, sugar factory, sugar trusts, mosaic disease, mosaic virus

Sample Articles

• "Important to Sugar Planters" The Planters' Banner, December 06, 1849, Image 1
• "Sugar Farm for Sale" The Planters' Banner, January 08, 1853, Image 3
• "The Spirit of Incendiarism" Feliciana Sentinel, October 06, 1877, Image 2
• "Sugar Cane: Its Origin and History" The New Orleans Daily Democrat, June 23, 1878, Image 10
• "Sugar-House Party" The Donaldsonville Chief, November 03, 1883, Image 3
• "State Department of Agriculture" St. Tammany Farmer, January 25, 1890, Image 2
• “A Move for a Central Sugar Factory” The Meridional, February 13, 1892, Image 3
• "Sugar Legislatioin" The Lafayette Gazette, November 03, 1894, Image 1
• “Sugar House Fires” The Weekly Messenger, February 02, 1895, Image 4
• “Molasses as a Fertilizer” The True Democrat, December 05, 1896, Image 6
• "Sugar Cane as a Farm Crop" The Weekly Messenger, January 18, 1896, Image 3
• "A Sample Trade" The Colfax Chronicle, July 10, 1897, Image 3
• "The Condition of the Cane Crop" The Weekly Messanger, September 30, 1899, Image 1
• "The Sugar Industry Defended" The Donaldsonville Chief, October 31, 1908, Image 2
• "Sugar Crop Short" Lower Coast Gazette, November 13, 1909, Image 1
• "Two Clases of Men" The Caucasian, July 23, 1911, Image 1
• "The Cold and the Cane" The Era-Leader, January 19, 1911, Image 1
• "Providing for the Lepers" The Rice Belt Journal, March 13, 1914, Image 2
• “Attention Capitalists” The Lafayette Advertiser, November 14, 1911, Image 1
• "Sugar Refinery is Sold for $10,000" St. Landry Clarion, September 27, 1913, Image 1
• "Small Sugar Cane Mills" Lower Coast Gazette, April 26, 1913, Image 1
• "Planters May Get at Sugar Trust" The Lafayette Advertiser, November 11, 1913, Image 1
• "Free Sugar Up to Wilson" The Donaldsonville Chief, February 22, 1913, Image 1
• "Parasites to Fight Cane Borers" The Donaldsonville Chief, October 03, 1914, Image 2
• "Condition of Sugar Cane" The Weekly Messanger, October 23, 1915, Image 1
• "Sugar Cane Disease Spreads in Louisiana" St. Landry Clarion, August 16, 1919, Image 8
• "Station Removal Angers Planters" The Rice Belt Journal, April 10, 1920, Image 2
• "Investment in Sugar Cane" The Donaldsonville Chief", August 12, 1922, Image 1
• "Sugar Interests Merge" The Donaldsonville Chief", September 30, 1922, Image 1